Study the 16 vocabulary terms below. Then continue to the activities.
- BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)
- Community forum
- Diagnostic
- Escalate
- Helpdesk
- KB (knowledge base)
- Outage
- Reboot
- Remote access
- Response time
- Support ticket
- Tech support (technical support)
- Troubleshoot
- Warranty
- Windows Update
- Workaround
Noun (thing)
the fail screen used in Windows when a serious system error occurs
The Blue Screen of Death usually indicates a serious hardware or software issue.
Noun (thing)
a web application optimized for organized discussions relating to a given product, service, or shared topic of interest.
Community forums are a great place to gain deep knowledge about things, and also to keep up-to-date with all the news, gossip, tips, tricks, and wildly contrasting opinions.
Noun (thing)
a test used to determine if a piece of hardware or software is performing correctly
The support technician ran a diagnostic suite on the laptop to determine the root cause of the issue.
Verb (infinitive)
to increase the priority of a ticket, often sending it to someone with more authority or technical expertise.
We had to immediately escalate the ticket from Level 1 to Level 3, because the issue affected the company revenue.
Noun (thing)
a common name for a tech support service center, either real (in person at an office) or virtual (by phone or chat)
The end user needed to visit the Helpdesk because she was missing some vital business applications from her laptop.
Noun (thing)
a tool to help end users and/or staff solve tech support problems on their own.
One should always search the KB or confluence before contacting tech support for help.
Noun (thing)
when something crucial stops working for a period of time
The power outage was caused by a tornado taking out the main generator.
Verb (infinitive)
to shut down and restart a computer
A simple reboot will often solve minor issues in an operating system, especially older versions of Windows.
Noun (thing)
a method that allows a technician to control a user's device from another location
A support technician used a remote access protocol to patch a customer's vulnerable CRM software.
Noun (thing)
the duration between a user's request and a technician's reply
Users expect a very short response time from companies when starting trouble tickets.
Noun (thing)
A formal and trackable request for tech support and/or issue resolution
The technician took the end user's support ticket number and checked the status.
Noun (place)
critical help given to an end user after a sale; usually performed by telephone, email, or chat
The customer contacted tech support when he could not get his computer to recognize his printer.
Noun (thing)
to find the source of a problem by using a systematic process of elimination
The user helped the support technician troubleshoot the computer's problem over the telephone.
Noun (thing)
a legal agreement stating that a product will operate defect-free for a specified time period
Tech support could not help resolve the issue, because the customer's device is out of warranty.
Proper noun (thing)
a private service for maintaining certain Microsoft operating systems
You should regularly check Windows Update, to download and install the latest security patches.
Noun (thing)
a temporary solution which avoids a problem without fixing the root cause
The website did not support PDF file uploads, so we used a JPEG screenshot as a workaround.